A Black Hole
by Zero-A.C
Summary: In the short time Mickey works for Torchwood, after all the things he has seen and done, it is meeting one person that makes him leave. Lucy Saxon, Mickey Smith.


Disclaimer: No Doctor Who is not mine and neither is Torchwood and I wouldn't claim so either.

Warning: Implication of Lucy/Master.

A/N: Story inspired by the so called Random Pairing Generator. This time not shippy, at least not Lucy/Mickey wise. Also, since written before _End of Time_ not exactly Canon compliant. Enjoy!

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Mickey Smith / Lucy Saxon

**A Back Hole **

It is said that you could go insane by simply looking into a black hole.

Mickey has learned that in his short time working for Torchwood 3. He has learned other things, too. Ianto knows everything and Jack always has his secrets, for example.

Once a month Jack leaves the HUB and vanishes. Ianto never says a word but prepares a strong coffee for his return. One day Mickey asks what this is about, almost casually. Jack considers his question for a moment, jaw tightly set and then, to Mickey's surprise, nods. "I'll show you next time," he says and he does.

One afternoon Jack gestures Mickey to follow him and they drive to an asylum near London. It doesn't look like one from the outside and seems to be pretty expensive. The staff knows Jack and they only regard Mickey with a short, inquisitive look.

A doctor informs Jack that it is one of her better days and Mickey wonders who she is. Jack doesn't answer.

Whoever she is, she is standing in front of the windows, her back turned to them, long, but lacklustre, blonde hair falling over her frail shoulders. Everything about her looks frail and somehow she reminds Mickey of the vase that used to stand on his grandmother's nightstand, the one that he had shattered once and badly put together again and which was always looking like it would fall apart any minute.

"Hello, Lucy," Jack greets her and his voice is unusually small and carefully emotionless.

"You again?" she asks and her voice is dreamy and bland. "Is it time again? I never notice how fast it passes. I never notice anything," she says and seems so far gone, she could be in another universe.

"How are you?" Jack asks.

"The sky is blue, did you notice? I always forget how blue it is. It will be so black, so endlessly black," she says as if it is an answers and slowly turns around to them. It looks like she is dancing, but only she can hear the music and see the man leading her.

Mickey isn't sure if she even notices him or Jack properly.

"Lucy," Jack says softly, drawing her attention to them. "This is Mickey Smith. Mickey, that is Lucy Cole."

"Uhm, hi!" Mickey greets her, feeling highly uncomfortable. She fixes him with eyes, that look dead. She walks closer to him, moving as if she was a puppet whose strings have been cut.

"It _is_ Saxon. My name is Lucy Saxon," she corrects Jack without looking at him and for the first time there seems to be a spark of life in her. She still transfixes Mickey with her eyes and all he can do is stare back.

Jack huffs. "Of course," he says with a mixture of disgust, pity and tired surrender to a fact that cannot be changed.

Lucy is now standing in front of him, so close that Mickey can smell the curious mixture of the usual hospital smell, sweet perfume and something metallic.

"You are new," she says in awe. "You've been here and you've been there and now you are back," Lucy whispers, mad eyes gliding over him and Mickey shivers and before he can say anything, her hand has snapped forward with such speed he wouldn't have thought her capable of. Her cold hand tucks at his hair painfully and her lips are close to his cheek. Automatically his hands come up to defend himself, but when he grabs her thin arms to push her away, he finds he can't. His mind remembers how frail she looks and then her broken voice whispers into his ear, into his mind. "Do you hear it? Do you hear the sound of drums?" Her painted fingernails fall on his scalp in a rhythm of four simple beats.

Jack rips them apart, and pushes Mickey behind him, for which he is oddly thankful.

Lucy doesn't seem to notice Jack and her gaze is fixed on Mickey. Jack's voice is drowned out by the empty darkness seeping from her eyes. "And here it comes, the sound of drums," she sings with a high voice, as empty and shattered as her eyes. Mickey realises, that they don't look dead at all, and although he has never seen one before, Mickey knows.

They look like black holes. He has to look away before they suck him into her madness.

The next day he leaves Torchwood.

END

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A/N: Hope you liked it and as always be aware that English is not my native language and therefore any constructive criticism is appreciated.


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